A review by katrinarose
11/22/63 by Stephen King

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

What a disappointing thing it is to spend almost 900 pages and weeks of time for a 2 star book. It may have been 3 stars if the ending wasn’t bad, but it was. This was my first Stephen King book, and I chose it because a time travel thriller sounded fun, and definitely more appealing than a 900 page horror like his more famous works. After this experience though, I’m doubtful I’ll ever read a King book again. Even if the others are objectively better (which I doubt, because this one had tons of 5 star reviews so I can’t trust the hype), he gives me creepy old man vibes from the way he wrote women. 

My main complaint is that this book could have been 500 pages shorter. For a book that is supposed to be a thriller, there was so much boring filler. We got a second life built by the main character in the late 1950s, complete with King's fantasies of being a cool English teacher beloved by all his students, having a beautiful, virginal (insert eye roll here) woman he gets to save who falls deeply in love with him, and more. There is so much that did not add anything to the story, and I kept wondering when we'd move on from this romanticization of the mid 1900s. He threw out a couple acknowledgements of the racism that existed but it seemed more perfunctory than real thought-provoking criticisms, espcially when he spent far more time talking about how much better the drinks tasted in that time.

Finally, the ending was awful. I don’t want to give any spoilers but it was not satisfying in the slightest bit. I think I could spitball five different better endings on the spot if I was asked to. Also, the time travel mechanics were lazy and introduced so late that it felt pointless. I’m trying to think of positives for this book, and all I have is that the concept is interesting and the writing style is engaging.
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